LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD by bragg

miller, olive. MY BOOKHOUSE" HOUSE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD AND MINIATURE METAL BOOK HOUSE from Olive Beaupre Miller's "My Bookhouse". Chicago: Bookhouse for Children 1929. The book is 2 1/8" wide x 2 1/2", bound in green leatherette embossed with a scene from the poem, (also includes 2 poems and a Christmas song), It is in Fine condition SOLD WITH the original miniature version of the full size wooden Book House that was offered to owners of the 9 volume set as a Christmas book. It is an all metal version of the wooden house with a red roof, measuring 3 1/4" wide x 5" high and 2 1/2" deep and was meant to house several books. The under side has the Bookhouse publication information stamped in black. The authorship of THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD is not known. Possibly originally written by Mabel C. Bragg, the miniature version bears no mention of her name. It is illustrated with numerous partial page color illustrations by an unknown hand. The now classic tale of the little train that did the impossible is best known from the 1930 edition illustrated by Lois Lenski. The little book offered here predates that and has different wording and different illustrations. There is some controversy attached to the origins of the story which may have begun as an oral folk tale. John Tebbel (Hist. of Pub. in the U.S. v.4 p.476) writes that the 1930 Platt & Munk Lenski version is: "a story whose origins became a matter of dispute in 1955. Although the house [Platt & Munk] had copyrighted its version of the tale in 1930 and published it under the house pseudonym of Watty Piper, subsequently selling more than 1 million copies, the claim was made that the story was first written and published by Mrs. Frances M. Ford, of Drexel, Pennsylvania, who was 102 years old in 1956. First titled "The Little Switch Engine," it was said, the story first appeared in a newsletter of the After School Club of America on April 18, 1912. Platt & Munk offered a $1,000 award to anyone who could offer proof of authorship, discounting the Ford claim that was made through the efforts of her niece ... and although the results were indecisive, the award was split among three people. It was determined only that the basic story had been told and retold under different titles, that it had appeared in print before 1911, and may ha